


Tree Rings - A slice of life PokeTrainer Story

by Fantastea



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Gen, Original Trainer Character, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-05-31 07:58:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19421767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fantastea/pseuds/Fantastea
Summary: All 18yo Aspen Grey has ever wanted was to be a Pokemon trainer like all her friends who left years ago. Her mother would never let her, until a certain Pokemon proved its worth and willingness to protect her daughter.——Just an OC Trainer story following her start, her journey, and the friends she meets. Slice of life-y as a Pokemon Trainer. Will eventually also be a romance story. I’ll try to update frequently!





	1. “What Are You?”

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve had this OC for a long time, but I’m just now writing out her story. There’s no Big Bad, there’s no mystery. It’s just her life as a Pokemon Trainer. 
> 
> For the worldbuilding, I’ve sort of used a combination of the anime and games, but mostly the games—especially for maps and locations. 
> 
> Warning for a controlling parent situation. 
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @Fantastea_Cas (art) or @tiigertea (personal)!

“Okay, I’m leaving!” A teenager called from the entrance to the store run by her mother. She had the door open, and was turned towards the cash counter where her mother stood. 

“Did you finish stocking the shelves?” Her mother asked routinely, knowing she didn’t need to ask but did anyway. 

“Of course, Mom.” The teen replied, the subtle roll of her eyes almost present in her voice. 

“Then go on, but be careful! And don’t go too far from town!” Her mother half-warned, half-scolded. She knew her daughter explored further than she was comfortable with, but she couldn’t prove it. It was an obvious point of tension between the two. 

“I knoooow,” the teen whined, turning away from her mother and stepping through the door. “Bye!” She called as the door closed behind her. 

It was almost evening. Late enough in the day that her mother no longer needed her at the store, but early enough that she could still have some daylight to herself. And it usually was just to herself: there weren’t many other teenagers left in Blackthorn City. As she was growing up, there were other kids her age, but they’ve all left on journeys of their own now. But this particular teen was never allowed. She tried to make the best of her time though, even though she often felt trapped in the small town. One way she made the best of it was to explore every inch of the surrounding areas she could—and that was exactly her plan for today as well. 

Blackthorn City is a small town, named a city only because of the presence of a Johto League Gym, nestled part way up a mountain range. To the north was Ice Cave, a cold cavern that most avoided. Going east would lead one up the mountain through winding paths and steep cliffs. West was down the mountain by way of sheer cliff. It was usually too dangerous to explore that way. The safest direction was south, following the river down Route 45. This teen preferred a little bit of a challenge though, so she usually chose to make her way up the mountain a ways, seeing how far she could go and come back before dark. 

After making her way to her house down the street to change into something more comfortable for rock climbing, she quickly made her way to her usually path heading up the mountain. She hummed a tune to herself as she jogged up the path, only loosely paying attention to where she was going. She knew these paths like the back of her hand after all. 

She only really started paying attention once she got to a fork in the path and had to choose which direction she was going to go today: an easier jog, or more rock-climbing than jogging. As she stood taking a break and trying to make up her mind, something strange caught her eye—up the tougher route, there appeared to be a couple Fearow circling in the sky and occasionally diving at something. The Fearow around these parts were known to be aggressive, so immediately she wondered if someone, or something, was in trouble. Without a another thought she started jogging towards them. 

Luckily it was a path she had travelled before, but the Fearows did seem to be a bit further than she anticipated. She kept them in her sights, following the path until the end—but they were still further away. But, not so far that she couldn’t hear them anymore. She knew she was close to what they were circling above, but in front of her was a clifface with no way around. 

Taking a moment to think, she tried to decide what she should do. It was already getting late, but if someone was in trouble ahead… She shook her head. Getting in trouble with her mom would be worth it, even if it’s nothing up ahead. Just the idea that it  _ could _ be someone in trouble was enough to convince her to move forward. 

She examined the cliff before her. It was about three or four feet taller than her, and had a few rocks jutting out of it. She reached for a couple, but couldn’t quite get there—but with a running start…

Anyone who had been watching would have sworn she had done it a million times before. She ran, jumped, and scrambled up the wall almost perfectly. She awarded herself a small victory dance before carrying on, and then turned just in time to see a Fearow dive towards what appeared to be just a boulder along the small ledge just a few yards ahead. 

It was just then that it occurred to her that there was nothing she could do about the Fearow: she had no Pokemon of her own, after all. Unable to see what they were after, she tucked herself against the rock and edged closer and closer to the boulder ahead, hoping not to be seen by the Fearow. As she watched the Fearow for any patterns in their behaviour, she almost didn’t notice the dark stains upon the ground. 

She took a moment to crouch down and examine the dark splotches in the dirt, and that’s when she saw the foot prints accompanying the spots. The spots, she figured, were blood, and fairly fresh too. The prints; she had never seen before. But now she knew what the Fearow were after—there must be an injured Pokemon by the boulder up ahead. 

Now more determined than before, she inched closer and closer to the boulder. Finally almost close enough to touch, she saw it—and small opening in the cliffside just this side of the boulder.  _ It must be in there,  _ she thought, her eyes bouncing between the Fearow and the opening. She knew she couldn’t stand there for long or the Fearow would see her, so she took the first chance she could and darted into the small cavern. 

——-

It was dark. The sunset from outside poured into the crack, but the space in the cave was mostly behind the boulder and shrouded in darkness. Before the teen could even breathe a sigh of relief from avoiding the Fearow, her breath hitched in her throat. Something moved. And that something was growling. 

Her eyes darted to the sound of movement and got caught in a deep red gaze of Pokemon. It continued to growl at her, but made no more movement. She stood breathless, pressed against the wall and trying to see as much of the creature as possible, but it was just too dark. Her thoughts raced. This was a bad idea. This was too reckless. Now she was trapped between a potentially injured and obviously angry unknown Pokemon, and a few circling Fearow. 

She swallowed her breath. Sweat dripped down the side of her face. She tried to weigh her options. She could dart back out and risk the Fearow and not help the potentially injured Pokemon. She could stay till dark, when the Fearow would probably leave, and risk upsetting the mystery Pokemon even more, but maybe be able to help it. She decided she needed more information. 

Whenever she went into the mountains, she carried a small bag of supplies—just in case. This was definitely a “just in case” moment. Slowly, she reached for the bag at her side.

The growling intensified.

She stopped. She waited a few moments. The growling subsided. Then, she tried again. 

The Pokemon made a noise like a combination of a dog’s bark and a cat’s hiss. 

She stopped again, and caught it’s eyes. They were deep red with white irises. It was the most intense look she’d ever seen in her life. She couldn’t see the rest of it’s face, but she could see a faint silhouette of its body. It wasn’t too large, but big enough she wouldn’t be able to fend off an attack. 

Keeping eye contact, she reached again for her bag, slowly sticking her hand in it. She thanked her lucky stars her mother taught her to be organized, because she found what she needed right away: a small flashlight. She inched it out of her bag. 

The Pokemon made the noise again, but still didn’t move any closer. She didn’t want to scare it, so she pointed the flashlight at the ground, then pressed the button on. 

Another bark from the Pokemon, followed by intense growling. She didn’t move, but kept her eyes on the intense red ones across from her. She tried her best to not look scared or intimidated, but also non-threatening. It was a weird balance to try and maintain while her heart was racing a mile a minute. A little more confident now that she had something in her hands to potentially defend herself with, even if it was just a small flashlight, she was able to swallow her fear just enough to talk. 

“It’s okay,” she soothed in a whisper. “I’m not going to hurt you.” 

The growling continued, but did not increase. She took this as a good sign. 

“I just want to get a look at you,” she explained, slightly shakily moving the beam of the flashlight across the floor towards the Pokemon. It still didn’t move. 

The beam reached a couple paws on the ground a few inches beneath the eyes she could see. They were white in colour and had three large claws each. She shook a little, briefly imagining those claws swiping at her. She willed the image away, and continued to move the light bit by bit until she had seen the majority of the Pokemon’s body.

It was a quadruped, and almost entirely white. It’s claws, tail, face, and a single horn on the left side of it’s head were black—or maybe it was a dark blue. The white fur on its head curved down the right side, and it had a single black gem between its bright red eyes. 

“Well, hello there,” she breathed, taken aback by its beauty. She had never seen a Pokemon like this before in her life. As she moved the flashlight across its body one more time, she noticed the dark patch of fur on its hind leg—it had a large gash across it. She let out a small gasp. 

“You’re hurt!” She exclaimed, worried for it. “That’s why you won’t move,” she said to herself, more than to the Pokemon. 

Cautiously, she crouched down, trying to get a better look at the Pokemon and its injury. On her knees, she started to inch forward. 

The Pokemon swiped with a front paw, faster than she had anticipated it could move. She fell back a little in shock, but luckily was still too far away for the swipe to connect. 

“Shh, shh, it’s ok,” she tried to soothe. The Pokemon barked at her in return. 

“Alright, I won’t try to come closer. I promise.” She said, backing back up to the wall where she came into the cavern. She watched the Pokemon for a few minutes in silence and gradually its growling subsided. Taking a moment to look away, she focused her eyes on the sky outside. She could still see the Fearow. It wasn’t yet dark enough for them to leave. 

She sighed a little, leaning back against the wall and planting herself on the ground. The Pokemon carefully watched her, but made no sound. 

“I guess I’m stuck here like you now,” she said to the Pokemon, a bit of a nervous laugh in her voice. She absently ran the flashlight’s beam across Pokemon’s white fur one more, then came back to look into its eyes again. She had all kinds of questions, and even though she knew it couldn’t answer, she still decided to ask the biggest one on her mind. 

“What  _ are _ you?” 


	2. “Don’t Tell Mom.”

“Aspen?! Is that you?!” 

The teen walked into her home, well past curfew, to a frantic mother. She put on the best “I feel terribly guilty” expression she could, before her mother hurriedly wrapped her arms around her daughter. 

“Aspen! You’re safe, oh my gosh I was  _ so worried about you! _ ” And then after letting her go and glaring daggers into her eyes, “ _ Where on earth have you been?!”  _

“I can explain—“ The teen, Aspen, started, before her mother cut her off. 

“I want no excuses!” Her mother scolded. 

“I’m not—there were these Fearow and they—“ Aspen started, again getting cut off by her mother. 

“If there were Fearow you went too far!” 

“—they trapped me in a small cave and—“

“You know better than to go that far on your own!” 

“—I had to wait until dark for them to leave.” Aspen finished, frustrated. Her mom had stepped back and had her hands on her hips, and Aspen stood defiantly with her arms crossed. Her mother sighed. 

“I’m glad you’re okay, dear, but  _ please _ don’t go so far into the mountains and you wouldn’t run into as many wild Pokemon.” She practically begged, but Aspen had heard this so many times before it didn’t make her feel a thing. She huffed and looked away, muttering. 

“If I had my own Pokemon, those Fearow wouldn’t have trapped me in the first place.” This got her mother’s anger back up, of course. Aspen knew what buttons to press, and often pressed this specific one only, hoping that one day she’d get her own way.

“You know how I feel about that.” Is all she said, sternly and in a tone that said “don’t even bother continuing”. Aspen, however, opened her mouth to continue anyway.

“But—“

“Ah, ah! No but’s!” Her mother interjected, waving a finger at her daughter. “Now get cleaned up and ready for dinner.” 

“Fine.” Aspen sighed, letting her arms down, too tired to bother fighting this fight again. She knew she’d never be allowed a Pokemon so long as she lived under this roof, and she knew as long as she lived she’d always  _ be  _ this roof. Her mother had it all planned out. 

Aspen tried her best not to let it bother her, and to keep a good relationship with her mom, but sometimes, sometimes she just couldn’t. So they’d fight. They’d fight until Aspen gave up—because no matter how much logic and sense Aspen would throw at her mother, she’d still stubbornly say “no Pokemon!”. They’d fought about it as long as Aspen could remember; it started as a simple “you’re too young”, then once all Aspen’s peers got Pokemon it changed to “you’re not ready yet”, and then finally it just changed to “I said no, and that’s that”. Aspen suspected that it had something to do with her absent father, but beyond that she’d never known the reason she wasn’t allowed to have Pokemon—and that’s what ate her up the most. 

There was a knock at the bathroom door. Aspen had been sitting in the shower, thinking about what she could do about that injured mystery Pokemon. 

“Aspen? Are you coming for dinner?” Her mother called, a sweet tone to her voice as if nothing had even happened. This was typical. Aspen had to just go along with it. 

“Yeah,” she called back, standing up and turning off the water. She had long since finished washing herself. “I’ll be just a minute.” 

——-

The rest of the night went just as usual. It was the morning that went differently. 

“Aspen, sweetie?” Her mom started, getting Aspen’s attention as they were eating breakfast. 

“Yeah?” The teen replied, her mouth half full of oatmeal. Her mother decided not to comment on that. 

“Why don’t you take today off from the store?” She suggested instead, earning a choking surprised noise from her daughter. Aspen almost never got a day off, except for the one day a week the store was closed. Today was obviously not that day of the week. 

“Uh, okay?” Aspen replied, confused, but smart enough not to argue something in her favour. 

“It’s just…” Her mom trailed off, searching for words. “It’s just that you’ve been working so hard and I can tell you’ve been stressed. I figured I should give you some time to yourself.” She explained, leaving half of her words unsaid. Aspen wasn’t sure if it was the whole truth or not, but she’d take it anyway. 

“...Thanks.” Aspen looked down into her breakfast. She had been stressed and upset lately, but it wasn’t work that was causing it. At least her mom was trying to be in tune with her feelings though, she thought. A day to herself was always welcomed anyway. 

They sat in silence for the rest of their meal, and while Aspen cleaned the dishes and her mom got her work things together. 

“Aspen?” Her mom addressed, picking up her things. 

“Yeah?”

“Try not to be so late coming home again, okay?” She asked, a mixture of emotions in her voice. She didn’t look at Aspen as she spoke. She sounded sad, stern, and perhaps a little hopeless all together. It’s times like this Aspen really wished her mother would express her thoughts and feelings more. But she knew better than to press. 

“I’ll wear a watch this time.” She suggested, and her mother nodded, waved, and walked out the door. 

It didn’t take Aspen long to decide what she was going to do today: she still wanted to help that mystery Pokemon. She got dressed into her every-day clothes and this time grabbed a slightly bigger bag to take with her. She was going to be taking more things with her, after all. She also grabbed a watch to put on, just like she said she would. She couldn’t risk getting grounded after all, not now. She would time how long it took to get to the little cave, and then she’d know when to leave, she decided. She double checked her supplies, then left the house. 

It was still very early in the day, so most businesses either weren’t open, or just opening. But her first stop was always open: the PokeCenter. 

Aspen waved to Nurse Joy as she walked in. The place was almost deserted. 

“Oh, hello, Aspen! You’re here early.” Nurse Joy greeted, used to Aspen visiting in the evening. She would often come to see the Pokemon and trainers passing through the town. 

“Mom gave me the day off!” Aspen explained. “I was wondering if I could use one of the computers for a little while?” She asked, out of courtesy. The computers were free to use for anyone, anyway. 

“Of course! Go right ahead.” Nurse Joy said, waving her hand to the corner where there were half a dozen or so computers. 

“Thanks!” Aspen smiled, walking past the reception desk. 

She sat at a computer, turning it on at the same time. While waiting for it to boot up, she pulled out a small notebook and a pen and began writing down defining features of the Pokemon in the cave. It had white fur, with dark (blue or black?) features, a single horn, a gem on its forehead, large claws, and red eyes. She was determined to figure out what it was. 

The computers came equipped with a Pokemon Database, based off trainer’s Pokedex finds and Professor’s studies. She set it to the Johto Region and began looking. 

Aspen tried multiple different searches. Search by colour. Search by size. Search by body type. Each one turned up nothing. She had settled to going through the Pokedex one by one. 

About halfway through, and she was getting obviously frustrated. She leaned her head on one hand, and the other continuously scrolled the mouse wheel. She audibly sighed and stretched her arms up. It had easily been an hour. 

“What’re you looking for?” A voice said, startling Aspen enough to jump a little. 

“Sorry,” the voice apologized, and Aspen turned around to see Claire; the Blackthorn Gym Leader. Aspen wouldn’t say they were friends exactly, but they did know each other and Claire often let Aspen watch gym matches for fun. 

“Oh, hi, Claire,” Aspen greeted. “I’m looking for a Pokemon I saw…” She started, continuing to tell Claire yesterday’s story. Claire pulled up a chair beside Aspen to listen. 

Aspen recounted the entire event to Claire, hoping Claire would be able to help too. Claire listened to the whole tale intently. 

“So.. do you have any idea what it might have been?” Aspen asked at the end, an almost defeated tone to her voice. “I’ve searched the entire Johto Pokedex and haven’t found it…” 

“Well,” Claire started, thinking a little, “It doesn’t sound familiar to me, but if you haven’t found it in Johto, try another region.” She suggested. 

“Hmm,” Aspen thought. “Mt Silver does border on Kanto, maybe it’s from there?” 

“I’m not sure,” Claire replied. “I’m also pretty familiar with Kanto Pokemon. Maybe try Hoenn or Sinnoh.” 

“Those regions are so far away though! How would it have gotten here?” Aspen asked, trying to think logically about it. 

“It doesn’t matter how it got here. What matters is that it  _ is _ here.” Claire matter-of-factly stated. 

“That’s true.” Aspen agreed. Picking the mouse back up to change the region of the Pokemon Database. 

“Here, I’ve got some time. I’ll help.” Claire offered, turning on the computer beside Aspen’s. Aspen beamed. 

“Thank you so much! I’ll look in Hoenn, and you can check Sinnoh?” She suggested. Claire nodded. 

The two sat in silence, except for the occasional clicking of a mouse and the quiet hum of computers. It took Aspen a little longer to search through the Hoenn Pokedex, enthralled by all the Pokemon she’d never seen before. She made a mental note to spend more time looking into foreign regions in her free time. 

An image then came upon her screen: it was dark and a little blurry, but in it stood a brilliant white Pokemon atop a cliff. It appeared to be howling. 

“This is it!” Aspen exclaimed, accidentally loud enough to startle Claire and a few other trainers who had gathered in the Pokecenter. 

“Are you sure?” Claire asked, peering over onto the screen. “It’s a bit blurry.” 

“I’m positive!” Aspen nodded, before starting to read the information aloud. 

“Absol. The disaster Pokemon. This elusive Pokemon tends to appear before a natural disaster occurs. There is debate whether it causes disasters or aims to warn humans. It tends to be sighted in mountainous areas. It is of the Dark Type.” 

“Sounds pretty dangerous, Aspen… Are you sure that’s what it was?” Claire asked again. 

“Yeah, I’m sure…” Aspen trailed off, looking for more information. There wasn’t any. “That’s it?” She said aloud, more to the computer than to herself or Claire. 

“What did you two find?” A kind voice from behind asked. It was Nurse Joy. Aspen and Claire turned to face her. 

“I found this Pokemon in the mountains.” Aspen explained, directing Nurse Joy to look at the screen. 

“Hmm…” Nurse Joy hummed as she read the information. “I’ve heard legends of Absol, actually.” She said, straightening back up. 

“Really? Can you tell me?” Aspen asked, eager to know anything she could about it. 

“I’m afraid I don’t know much more than what was written there… Just that they appear before natural disasters and then disappear again. I hope this doesn’t mean something is going to happen here…” She trailed off, a worried expression on her face. Aspen shook her head. 

“I don’t think it’s here to warn us.” Aspen stated, getting a confused look from the other two women. “It’s injured. It was hiding in a cave..” Aspen explained to Nurse Joy what she saw. 

“Oh dear!” Nurse Joy exclaimed. “We have to help the poor thing!”

“That’s my plan.” Aspen nodded. “I need to get it to trust me first though. I was going to take it some food and water today.” 

“I’ll give you some ointment, spray potions, and bandages.” Nurse Joy offered.

“I can give you some Pokemon food and berries.” Claire also offered. 

“Thank you two so much!” Aspen beamed, genuinely very grateful. “I have one more thing to ask though…”

“Please don’t tell mom.” 


End file.
